Shear front feed system

Abstract

A front feed system that includes powered rollers for feeding sheet metal into the front of a shear. In one embodiment, the system uses ball transfer apparatus for facilitating feeding the sheet metal at various angles to the shear blade as desired by the operator. The transfer apparatus may then be lowered to rest the oriented sheet metal on the rollers for delivery to the shear. In a second embodiment, a turntable is positioned proximate the shear to further facilitate final orientation of the sheet material to be sheared. In a third embodiment, the sheet metal is automatically forced against a squaring arm on the shear to assure cuts perpendicular to the edge of the sheet metal, whether the sheet is positioned on the ball transfer apparatus or on the rollers through inclination of portions of the conveyor and/or the ball transfer apparatus.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. In a shear front feed system for feeding sheet metal into the front of a shear, said shear of the type having a squaring arm for aligning a lateral edge of sheet metal to be fed to the shear, and including a feed system having: conveyor means to convey said sheet metal to the front of said shear for shearing operations; said conveyor means including a sheet metal receiving end remote from said shear and a sheet metal transfer end adjacent said shear as well as a plurality of parallel, spaced apart, powered roller means for moving the sheet metal from said receiving end to said transferring end; ball transfer means free to rotate in any direction mounted on said conveyor means for facilitating the movement of the sheet metal from the direction actuated by the roller means to thereby present the sheet metal at a selected one of various angles to the blade of the shear; means for lifting said ball transfer means to a position above said powered roller means to separate said sheet metal from said roller means for reorientation of said metal upon said roller means, said feed system further comprising: squaring means for automatically conveying said sheet metal to abut said squaring arm; and   said squaring means automatically inducing the convergence of said sheet metal at said squaring arm for said alignment through continuous gravitational exertion acting in a single direction.   
     
     
       2. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said squaring means includes means inclining at least one of said powered rollers towards said squaring arm so as to force said sheet metal against said squaring arm for perpendicular presentation of said sheet metal to said shear. 
     
     
       3. The invention according to claim 2 wherein there is a plurality of said inclined rollers that increase in pitch from said receiving end to said transfer end along said conveyor means to form an incline so as to gradually cause said sheet metal to abut said squaring arm. 
     
     
       4. The invention according to claim 1 wherein said squaring means includes tilting said ball transfer means by elevating said ball transfer means furthest from said squaring arm with respect to the ball transfer means most proximate to said squaring arm. 
     
     
       5. The apparatus as recited in claim 1 wherein said conveyor means further includes: a turntable situated proximate said sheet metal transfer end adjacent said shear;   said turntable being fully rotatable about an axis perpendicular to said powered rollers for a substantial range of rotational movement;   said turntable being elevatable with respect to said powered rollers and said ball transfer means, so as to separate said sheet metal from said conveyor means for reorientation of said sheet metal upon said roller means at any selected angle within said range of rotational movement of said turntable for angled presentation of said sheet metal to said shear;   said turntable being lowerable with respect to said powered rollers and said ball transfer means after reorientation of said sheet metal so as to allow movement of said sheet metal along said rollers for presentation of said metal to said shear at said selected angle; and   shortened powered rollers flanking said turntable so as to permit movement of said sheet metal past said turntable when said turntable is in said lowered position.